Lost Talent: Women in the Sciences (Labor and Social Change)

Rating:
Summary: Lost Talent
Review: _Lost Talent_, by Sandra Hanson, is a thorough and convincing study of women's educational experiences. She uses several large and well-respected data sets to examine why women are a minority in sciences. From this data, she constructs a thorough and convincing picture of student's educational opportunities. She considers several resources to which students have access, including individual resources (personality characteristics, family and work orientation), family resources (family socialization and resource allocation), school resources (the "hidden curriculum", course taking, and peer influence). Through her data, Hanson concludes that women choose to pursue science less often than men because of differential access to the above resources. In fact, women that do have equal access to resources are actually more likely to pursue a science career. This book is well organized and easy to read and understand. The tables and graphs are informative and clear. In my opinion, this book is a valuable addition to existing literature and is a must for people interested in gender, science, education, or work.